Holiday's struggles continue as Hawks rout Sixers

Let’s be honest: The 76ers are out of the playoff race, and their final four games, after Wednesday’s 124-101 lopsided loss against Atlanta, are for pride. So dropping a decision, albeit a rout, to the playoff-bound Hawks isn’t the greatest travesty.

Especially when the Sixers put Thaddeus Young (28 points on 14-for-20 shooting) in a position to try to win the game by himself. And when Atlanta’s Josh Smith, who paired 28 points with 12 rebounds, endured “overrated” chants in a mostly empty Wells Fargo Center.

More confounding than the loss – the Sixers’ fourth in five games – is the sudden disappearance of Jrue Holiday.

Holiday has been in a tailspin in his last six games. He shot 4-for-14 with 12 points, one assist and five turnovers against the Hawks, though he said he can’t blame his soured play on fatigue.

“I mean, I’m tired. Obviously there’s a lot of fatigue in there,” Holiday said. “I try to keep my body as best as possible, but that’s no excuse, you know what I’m saying?”

A lot of what the Sixers (31-47) pride themselves on is scoring production that’s generated by the ball movement and distribution skills of Holiday, an All-Star whose play has dropped off since March 30. In the half-dozen games since then, Holiday has shot 27-for-96 from the field for 28.1 percent and 7-for-23 from 3-point range, a 30.4-percent clip. Both are well below his season averages.

Throw out his scoring numbers, though, because his most significant contribution to the Sixers leads to other guys scoring. At the midway point of the third quarter, Holiday had zero assists. He finished with one, the same tally he had a night earlier, which tied his season-worst mark.

That means he’s not getting the job done.

That also means he’s probably due a break.

“I’ve tried to give him some breaks, give him a little rest,” Sixers coach Doug Collins said. “It’s that dog-day time of the year. Imagine if we were a playoff team right now, getting ready to go into the playoffs?”

With nothing more for which to play, the Sixers should have spent a chunk of Wednesday night’s game resting Holiday. It wouldn’t have been such a bad idea anyway, with the Sixers trailing the Hawks by 20 for most of the second half, and with Holiday on pace to break his per-game minutes played mark by more than three minutes.

“That’s what – remember when I talked to you about the growth and, all of a sudden, added minutes, added responsibility? You’re an All-Star so every time you go out there...” Collins said, trailing off.

Evan Turner, at times, has handled the point nicely amid Holiday’s struggles. Turner had five assists and zero turnovers in Tuesday’s loss at Brooklyn. Wednesday against Atlanta (43-36), he totaled seven assists and five turnovers.

That being said, Holiday’s worth is not lost on anyone. He’s played all but four games this season, those which he missed with a bum left ankle. All four resulted in losses.

It doesn’t change the fact that maybe – just maybe – the guy could use a breather.

Consider:• Holiday was late on a run-out on his man, Al Horford, who had an uncontested midrange jumper.

• Later in the third, at the offensive end, Holiday was whistled for a charge against Devin Harris, then issued a technical foul

• Holiday got crossed over by Jeff Teague, with the Hawks guard nearly taking Holiday out of his sneakers en route to a third-quarter layup.

As the quarter wound down, so did Holiday’s play. He made three of four shots at one stretch to somewhat redeem himself. It couldn’t keep Holiday from watching the fourth quarter from the bench, as the Sixers’ deepest reserves played out the remainder of the game.

And lament his contribution to the Sixers’ 15 turnovers.

“That point guard position – Jeff Teague is a tremendous player. What’d he have tonight, 13 points and 11 assists with no turnovers?” Collins said.

“To me, offensively, we so used to value the ball. We led the league last year in fewest turnovers. And too many times, I look down and other teams have 20-plus points off turnovers. If we lose that battle – we were minus-12 – if we’re minus in that stat, we’re not going to win the game. That’s a good barometer for us.”

Unwilling to admit defeat, or accept a level of play below what he’s grown accustomed to delivering, Holiday will be the last one to say he’s looking forward to the offseason.